“A lot of people are going with roofs that stand out on their own,” says Kate Smith, a Newport, R.I.-based color consultant. “They want something different that expresses them and expresses their personality.”

Which could be a tricky proposition, says Smith: “You want to stand out while still fitting into your neighborhood,” she says.

She admits to being taken aback herself when colored roofs first came into vogue several years ago.

Exterior home color should always be used judiciously, she says. But it is even more crucial to use it correctly when you’re adding it to a large fixed feature, like a roof, that is not easily changed with a fresh coat of paint.

“Anything that’s permanent needs to blend,” she says. “You don’t want to have too many colors that aren’t working together.”

One trick for doing that, Smith says, is to select roof colors true to your home’s history and architecture, and in natural shades.

For instance, Victorian homes originally had colored roofs — reds, orange, purple and green were typical — because the color of the slate varied so much, she says. Homeowners wanting to restore that look should match those subtle tones.

“When you saw purple, it was not a bright Barney purple,” she says.

Bright metal roofs — most often red or green — are better suited for farmhouse-style homes, or used over small structures such as porticos or bay windows. Steel blue is more European.

Colored roofs are also starting to crop up on “new American-style” homes, which Smith describes as combining popular styles and materials — perhaps, say, a stone and brick exterior with a copper roof.

The demand for colored roofs led DaVinci Roofscapes of Kansas City, Kan., to create faux slate and shake (wooden shingle) roofing in 49 colors “so homeowners can mix and match those if they want to get really creative,” says Wendy Bruch, the company’s marketing manager.

DaVinci’s palette is based on the naturally occurring colors seen on historically accurate roofs, she says. But custom colors are increasingly popular, too.

“There can be some crazy things going on because we can create new colors,” Bruch says.

DaVinci has worked with customers to create colors ranging from a château blue for a French provincial-style house to a green that matched the color on a metal roof with weather-related damage.

Many customers appreciate help picking the right shades, Bruch says. “It can make it confusing for the homeowner when you have too many options,” she says.

For Knoff, the risk of installing a colored roof was well worth taking.

“We absolutely love it,” she says. “When you see our house, it really stands out. But Victorians are supposed to be homes that stand out.”